Forever After All prevails in the La Prevoyante (Coglianese)
David Joseph/Gulfstream Park
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. — Dixiana Farms LLC’s Forever After All took full advantage of a well-judged ride from jockey Tyler Gaffalione to capture Saturday’s $165,000 La Prevoyante (G3) presented by Stella Artois at Gulfstream Park, filling a couple of voids in her resume in the process.
While prevailing by a nose over Chop Chop following a rousing stretch drive, the 6-year-old daughter of Connect notched her first stakes victory in the 1 1/2-mile turf stakes for fillies and mares on the 13-race Pegasus World Cup Day program while also winning for the first time on turf in her ninth attempt.
Not that the Brendan Walsh-trained mare hadn’t come close. Forever After All ($13.60) had collected four runner-up finishes in turf stakes, including a narrow loss in the Dec. 26 Via Borghese at Gulfstream in her previous start.
Gaffalione bided his time while settling Forever After All well off the pace set by long shot Shiloh’s Mistress, who was stalked by well-regarded Chop Chop while setting fractions of 23.57 and 48.34 seconds for the first half-mile. After completing a mile in 1:38.58, Shiloh’s Mistress gave way to Chop Chop, the 2-1 second choice who opened a clear lead under Irad Ortiz Jr. at the top of the stretch. Meanwhile, Gaffalione, who had to wait for Beautiful Love to clear to his outside on the turn into the stretch, finally found room to swing Forever After All to the outside at the top of the stretch, and she responded with an impressive stretch kick.
Forever After All ran 1 1/2 miles in 2:26.06 to win for the third time in 22 starts. Chop Chop held off a late inside bid by La Mehana to finish second. Beautiful Love, who was slightly favored over Chop Chop at 2-1, flattened out after her mild wide rally on the turf into the stretch.
Winning trainer Brendan Walsh (Forever After All): “If ever there was a horse that deserved the win, it was her. This is great for Mr. Shively, for everyone at Dixiana. She’s been on the go since she came to us last year and she has held her form. You love to see her win on the big day. I didn’t know if she got it, they were all on top of each other in the stretch. I was watching with my assistant Charlie [Lynch], and he said, ‘I think she won.’ I said don’t you dare go to the winner’s circle.’ I knew if we started walking, we’d just have to go back. This is a great tribute to all the people who look after her.”
“It might have been a cleaner trip than last time, but some horses like that, being covered up. At the quarter pole, it looked like [Tyler] had a ton of horse, you just don’t know if she will be able to get through.”
“She’d be a nice filly to keep going, but they might want to retire her. It’s probably 50-50, but I think she’s just starting to get good.”
Winning jockey Tyler Gaffalione (Forever After All): “I didn’t want to make it that close, but I just had to wait a little bit longer than I would have liked to. As soon as I got her out, she found another gear. I’m so proud of her and so happy for the connections. Brendan and his team do a fabulous job. I’m so thankful to be part of the team.”
